Johannesburg Temple

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

This week went by super fast and we were able to do so much. On Tuesday we went to transfers and sadly I had to say goodbye to my trainer Elder Dutson. His two years are up and he is now back in Idaho. I will soon follow him back to BYUI! I also got to say goodbye to Elders Cazier, Malapula and Tye. I will miss you guys.

It was Elder Loveless's Birthday on Wednesday and we went to the Van Zyl's house for dinner. It was super nice and I just love going to their home. He is now 21 years old.

We had a ward activity on Friday, which was so much fun. We used the gym floor and made a giant chess board as well as snakes and ladders. We were the game pieces and had weapons of war to use when defeating the opponent. We also played life size Jengo with wood blocks. Lekker Stuff! There was a great turn out and I hope to have one more activity before I leave.

The next day, being Saturday, we went to the Temple for baptisms, which was so nice. We were able to go with our ward and had such a great time. I love being inside the Temple and feeling the presence of the Lord.

On Sunday we had our investigator come to church and two Nigerian guys came as well. It was pretty sweet. During Sacrament meeting we found out the the Johannesburg mission, under the direction of the quorum of the twelve Apostles, will be split. The province of Limpopo and area of Pretoria are now part of the Botswana/Namibia mission. All the missionaries serving up there are no longer part of the Joburg mission. They will be missed.

It has been a wonderful week and this week will be even better. I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Monday, June 22, 2015

It has been another great week here in Selcourt and great things are happening. We had two strong investigators come to church and they are continuing to progress very well. Their names are Patricia and Anna and we hope to have them ready for baptism our last Sunday.

We got transfer news this week and Elder Loveless and I will be staying together, which is pretty cool because it is our last transfer on mission. It is the last chance we have to work hard and really turn the area of Selcourt around before we go home.

Since Elder Loveless and I are staying, we are going to try and learn Afrikaans as best we can. There are over ten official languages here and I have served around all of them, so I know bits and pieces of all of them.

We have a very awesome week coming up this week and I can't wait to tell you about it. Other than that, the Church is true, the book is Blue, and I am almost done with my two :(

Monday, June 15, 2015

Wow, this was a glorious week in Selcourt. So many great things happened and I am now revived to work even harder. I was able to give two blessings this week and on one of them, I felt the spirit stronger than I ever have before while giving a blessing. I could feel someone there with me and wanted to open my eyes to see if I could see them, but didn't. The second was to a very sick boy and I was able to bless him to sleep and to be able to heal quickly. At the end of the blessing he was sawing logs! What a blessing it is to have and to hold the Priesthood!

We had many lessons this week and more than half of them were investigator lessons. We even had SOMEONE COME TO CHURCH. We worked with members and they gave that person a ride. Her name is Patricia and she is WHITE, not that it really matters. She loved church and will bring her friend next time.

After Church on Sunday, I went with Elder Worton, one of the APs to Centurion for a baptism. It was sweet and all went well there.

Miracles are truly coming to pass and there are so many more to come for the last two months of my mission.

I hope you all have a great week and Happy Fathers Day to all you fathers out there. I LOVE YOU DAD.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Wow, winter has come to South Africa as I have worn two sweaters and a scarf everyday this week. I'm pretty sure after being here for almost two years that I now have African blood. The worst part is, is there is zero insulation in the buildings here, so the inside of most buildings is the same temperature as the outside. I stay nice and warm with my stuff, but does get cool as we ride the bikes after the sun sets.

This week went by super quick as they all do and a lot got done. We are continuing to work with the members and all is going well there. We had zone conference in Bedfordview this last Wednesday and I sure learned a lot. Most of the topics we discussed will greatly help us back home such as being self reliant and having integrity. I enjoyed it a lot. We also did a 30 second elevator speech with Sister Dunn, which really will be useful in the business world.

We were able to get another bike this week after what happened last week, so that was sweet. Somehow I popped my tire, so I had to patch that. It was a sweet week and I look forward to the coming week.

Monday, June 1, 2015

My heart goes out to the Perry Family as they have just lost Elder L. Tom Perry. He was such a great man and I loved the opportunities I've had to learn from his general conference addresses and will remember his words forever. I'll see you soon Elder Perry.

I don't even know where to start, I have so much to talk about in so little time. First, we were at a member's home on Wednesday night and we got to talking about the last days and Sister Anita mentioned Yellowstone Park and the huge volcano there that could erupt. I thought that was so amazing that people know about that all the way across the world.

Friday was a pretty crazy one. We had Zone Meetings in the morning; it is always nice to go back to Rynfield and to see the rest of the zone. We had a sweet meeting and I was able to learn a lot. From there we went to eat at Roman's Pizza and then went to our area. We put the bikes on a bike rack on the back of the car and they take us to the area. On the way, my bike tire wheel fell off and disappeared. We tried to go back and find it, but someone must have picked it up and kept it. Hopefully we will be able to get a replacement this week, so we are not walking everywhere. Later that night, I almost got robbed at an ATM, but I was able to see what the robbers were doing and stopped them. They rig the ATM machines to take your card just like they tried to do to me almost two years ago in Bedfordview.

We had a ward movie night on Saturday where we watched Meet the Mormons. It was so nice to see and really pumped me up for these last couple of months. The ward is improving and we are doing lots of great work. The lessons increase each week as do the people we are teaching. I wish I could write more, but I need to go.

This Church is true and all will be able to make more of their lives as they learn to let God in and feel His love.